Well, lookee here! The Wall Street Journal did actual journalism, checking police reports in Portland to see whether there was anything to Trump's version of a fiery hellhole. Now, we all knew it wasn't true, but an awful lot of "news" sources treated Trump's insanity as reality. Via the Wall Street Journal:
On Sept. 5, President Trump described ongoing protests in Portland as “unbelievable” and “the destruction of the city.”
Later that day, a sergeant from the Portland Police Bureau filed his daily observations of the demonstrations outside an ICE facility.
“Saw 8 people out front and couldn’t even get one of them to flip me the bird,” he wrote. “Very low energy.”
Daily reports from Portland police in the month leading up to Trump’s decision, on Sept. 27, to send federal troops into the city paint a different picture than public statements by Trump and others in his administration.
The White House has said the ICE facility is “under siege.” Newly released police reports filed in federal court describe how the protests that began in June were dwindling before Trump’s order.
The official logs shed light on the events this September, and how the nightly protests at the ICE facility unfolded.
The Journal reviewed reports for the month of September, leading up to Trump’s order late that month. Below is a timeline of key observations by local authorities, who also cite their regular interactions with the Federal Protective Service, a Homeland Security division that was at the facility.
“Any attempt by The Wall Street Journal to downplay the safety of America’s law enforcement officers after the horrific shooting at the ICE Field Office in Dallas, Texas, and vehicle rammings in Chicago is disgraceful and disgusting,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security. “The fact is that the Federal Protective Service memo from a select few nights does not paint the full picture of these violent riots outside the ICE facility in Portland, Oregon—where violence has been ensuing and escalating for months.”
You can read the Journal's tracking here.
